Dec. 31, 2010

A large crowd of over 100 people gathered at the Moca church on New Year's Eve for a worship celebration of all the blessings the congregation has received in the past year. Among the many blessings listed by Pastor Alex were moving into the new building, the numerous baptisms and confirmations, the increase in attendance, greater participation by the members in evangelism. These were a few of the many bounties God has showered on us in this past year.


The evening continued with a drama presented by the children and the Sunday School teacher. A brief re-enactment of the Christmas story (with just a few giggles) was very well done and immensely appreciated by the audience. The Sunday School teacher had also taught the children a song with movements that they presented at the end of the drama.


All of the adults were involved in the following activity which was a sort of Bible trivia. Someone from the audience was picked and asked to answer a Bible based question and then this person would choose the next person to play the game. Everyone was very enthused and enjoyed the game very much.

The evening finished with the traditional holiday meal of rice, lechon (roasted pork), potato salad and yuca. The thirty pounds of rice was barely enough to feed the entire crowd!

At midnight, everyone wished each other the Lord's richest blessings for the coming year.
Que Dios le bendiga y le prospere.

Christmas 2010, Santiago

Roast pork, seasoned chicken, rice, pasteles, salad, Christmas bread...just a few of the delicious foods that fill your plate at a typical Dominican Christmas meal. Many families prepare their own meat or you can buy it on any street corner during the Christmas-New Year holiday season.

Telara bread is also only prepared and sold at Christmas time. This is a traditional bread that accompanies the holiday meal and is available only at this time of the year. On Christmas eve, it also is sold on every street corner.


After the main meal, candies, raisins and apples are enjoyed along with holiday punch.


The main Christmas celebration is usually held on Christmas Eve beginning with the traditional meal that is usually eaten with family members. Family members spend the evening together and gifts are exchanged and opened. At midnight fireworks are set off to announce the arrival of Christmas day.

Recycling

Well, our Christmas tree went to the dogs - literally. The watchdogs that guard the church during the night decided to "play" with the Christmas tree. They tipped the tree over and chewed on the branches and broke most of the ornaments. There was not much left of what had been a beautiful Christmas decoration. So our beautiful tree was recycled and now we have several decorative wreaths, hung high up on the walls!

Recycling is a very common thing in third world countries. Nothing is ever thrown out. Everything is fixed again and again until it cannot be fixed anymore and then it is taken apart and used as parts for repairing other items!

One very common item that is recycled is the oil drum. You see them everywhere. Most people use them for garbage cans. But some creative people have used them for dog houses. And we see them used as grills that hold quite a large quantity of meat for barbecuing.

We also see many people that push carts around town looking for things that can be reused or sold. Rule number one is - never throw anything away! If you do, expect someone to pick it out of the trash and find some use for it. This man pushes his cart around our neighborhood. Usually he is looking through the trash for empty bottles which he can trade in for a peso a piece. This is his income to take care of his family.

It is really interesting to see how things that could be trash become useful items. Chewed up trees become beautiful wreaths, oil drums become grills, used bottles become a family's income. And here also, God has deigned to recycle souls - from sinner to saints. His Word is changing hearts by washing away sin and guilt and giving forgiveness and hope. People who feel "chewed up" by their sins and rejected and "thrown out" by others hear the good news of forgiveness in Jesus and that because of His perfect life and innocent death, God has a use for them - to serve Him and to speak of His love to others.

So, even though we had to recycle our tree, our hope is still strong. This past Sunday over 80 recycled souls attended worship service to hear that their sins separate them from God, but that because of Jesus, in His great love and mercy He will still find a useful purpose for them in this life. Trees becomes wreaths, oil drums become grills, bottles become pesos, sinners become saints.

Fellowship Sundays

Once a month the congregation gets together to enjoy a fellowship evening. This also works as an opportunity to invite friends and relatives for evangelism opportunities. We always meet new people and have many opportunities to witness. There are usually several activities going on at the same time - the men play dominoes, the children like to play games, the women may play board games or work on preparing the meal. The evening ends when a typical meal is served for all. These get-togethers are very well attended, over 100 people at the September one.

Cholera
The cholera outbreak in Haiti has officially recorded about 300 deaths. We have talked to some people who have actually been in Haiti - they say the number is actually much higher. Many are dying in the countryside without being "officially" registered as a cholera death. Here in the DR we are hearing on the news how to prevent the disease - washing hands, washing fruits and vegetables, don't buy food on the street. There have been some "rumored" cases of cholera here in Santiago, but health officials have yet to confirm that these cases are valid.

Christmas

"Se acabó el año". Christmas trees and decorations are in full swing here and have been for over a month now. The stores are full of Christmas merchandise and a night time drive is lit up with beautiful lights all over the city. Seems like everyone is anxious for the holidays!

He Came

A very blessed Christmas to everyone. These are some photos of the Nativity decorations we saw this year, which were very few. The real reason for Christmas, the coming of the Savior, brings great joy to us. He came. God became man to save us.






When I look at all the blessings the Savior has given me, all the joys, all the comforts He brings, my heart rejoices. He came. Then I remember all my feeble efforts at fighting sin, how easily hurtful words slide off my tongue, how easily vengeful thoughts fill my heart, and I know that He came to save me from the consequences of all these sins. And again my heart rejoices. He came. He came. What a privilege to know His name, to serve Him, to tell others about His love and grace.





But, sometimes, even knowing of His love and having received so much of His grace, I let too many peripherals get into the way of serving Him and telling others about His love. Just as Santa tries to take the glory away from Jesus, too many worldly things occupy my day and I don't have enough "time" to tell others, to serve Him and to praise His name. People see all the worldly things that occupy my time, but may not hear me speak of His great love. He came.

He came to save me. The center, the focus, is Jesus, the Savior. He came to be my Redeemer. He came to be my Light. Even after seeing all my sins, my weaknesses, my lack of love -- He came. What greater gift could I ever receive? He came to be my Friend. He came to be my Savior. He came!

Christmas Portraits, Santiago 2009

These are some typical photos of how the city is decorated.









Fruit stands with apples, raisins and gum drops are very common. We also see plenty of roast pork, usually sold along the side of the road, where you can buy it buy the pound for your family get togethers.






























This is what Christmas looks like here, where the night time temperature is still 79F at 8PM. Since it stays warm, outside decorations are very popular.












The decoration theme this year seems to have been: ribbon and butterflies. We have also seen more Santa's this year than ever before.

Christmas at the seminary

December 18 marked the last day of seminary activities for 2007. We had finished classes on Monday the 17th, so the 18th was set aside for worship and fellowship. The pictures below are from the seminary Christmas service and the fellowship afterwards.

• CD player and keyboard ready for Christmas carols and hymns.

The service was an adaptation of the popular "Nine Lessons and Carols", but with an addition: one of the shepherds from Bethlehem came to share his eyewitness account of not only Christ's birth, but also his future ministry as it culminated in the ultimate show of love -- Christ giving himself over to death as payment for our sins. What an amazing Christmas present God has given us!

• Fellowship following the service.

The LORD bless you with His peace,
NW